In celebration of the Supreme Court’s ruling on Prop 8 and DOMA, various rallies were held in South Florida Wednesday evening. Held outside of courthouses in Fort Lauderdale, Miami Beach and West Palm Beach, the rallies acted as both a celebration and a call-to-action.
In downtown Fort Lauderdale, car horns and shouts filled the air, reminiscent of President Obama’s win in 2008. Outside of the federal courthouse, LGBT supporters gathered to celebrate the historical day.
A reporter for Equality Florida spoke with one attendee, Hubert Allred, who was ecstatic. He said, “I believe it’s divine intervention from above.”
Bishop Peter E. Hickman of the Ecumenical Catholic Communion praised the ruling, releasing a very supportive public statement:
“We applaud the Court for taking these steps, and look forward to the changes which these decisions will bring about in our society…The community of faith continues to develop our understanding that the love of God is present in all creation, and therefore in every human being irrespective of race, gender or sexual orientation. The moral issue for Christians is not whether love is homosexual or heterosexual, or on a continuum between these two. The moral issue is the extent to which our love is characterized by the fruits of the Spirit (i.e., love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). This applies to all people, whatever their sexual orientation. And it is the standard by which Christian behavior is evaluated. Therefore, we welcome gay and lesbian individuals and couples fully into our faith communities. And, we proudly count among our ordained clergy a number of gay and lesbian individuals.”
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio isn’t exactly thrilled with the ruling, stating that the Supreme Court “made a serious mistake today when it overstepped its important, but limited role.”
He went on to say, “I do not believe that President Clinton and overwhelming bipartisan majorities of both houses of Congress acted with malice or intent to ‘demean’ a class of people when they adopted a uniform definition of marriage for the purposes of federal law. The court should not have second-guessed the will of the American people acting through their elected representatives without firm constitutional justifications. The sweeping language of today’s majority opinion is more troubling than the ruling itself as it points to further interference by the court in the years to come.”
